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"The Vision of Mac Conglinne is a fantastic poem and could be an allegory for our modern world, the demon of gluttony has taken over and wants to devour everything. Only words can expel it. Thank you Lahney Preston-Matto for the marvelous translation and comprehensive scholarly edition."---Greg Delanty, author of The Ship of Birth: Poems
In a pleasant position Was the house, strong, substantial. And then I went in Through the door of meat-jerky, The threshold of dried-bannock, The walls of soft cheese.
Pillars of cheese barnyardy And broad beams all bacony Alternately sprcad; Jolly joists of heavy-cream Bright rafters of cottage-cheese---They support the house
Just behind, a wine-wellspring, Beer, bragget in riversrun, Tasty each full pool. A malt sea for ale-brewing, at a whey-well's boundary Flows over the floor.---From Aislinge Meic Conglinne
Aisling Meic Conglinne, an anonymous Middle Irish romance, recounts the efforts of its eponymous hero to exchange the hardscrabble life of a clerical scholar for the prestigious life of a poet. Mac Conglinne wins the patronage of Cathal mac Finguine, the king of Munster, after rescuing him from a "demon of gluttony" by reciting a fantastic, food-laden vision of alternate worlds. An accomplished and original eleventh-century satiric narrative poem, Aislinge Meic Conglinne is now available for the first time as a stand-alone translation.
Preston-Matto offers scholars and students an ideal course text, matching every meter of every verse in her translation. The volume includes an introduction that places the romance in its rich historical and literary contexts, and extensive notes that illuminate the wealth of references found in the text. Illustrating Aislinge Meic Conglinne's significant influence and its participation in the intellectual movements and debates of its time, Preston-Matto's translation makes an invaluable contribution to medieval and Irish studies.
